Stricken Airline Passenger’s Estate Wins Med-Mal Appeal

A jury must decide whether MedAire Inc. is liable for failing to recommend diversion of a British Airways flight to treat a passenger’s fatal heart attack, a federal appeals court ruled.

The March 20 unpublished decision reversed a summary judgment for the remote medical services provider on claims that James Baillie’s death was hastened by delayed medical treatment.

The estate established sufficient factual questions for a jury to decide whether Tempe, Ariz.-based MedAire is liable under the Montreal Convention, an international treaty that governs personal injury and other claims that arise on international commercial flights, the U.S. Court of ...